What Is Good Internet Speed? How Much You Really Need?

Internet speed is more important than ever due to the rise of working from home, binge-streaming, and the acceptance of online games. High speed internet connection, though, has a price. The cost of internet increases with speed. The required internet speed for gaming, or simple office work can be far different from each other and can help you avoid wasting money on bandwidth that isn’t being used.

Nowadays, most homes can benefit from having at least 100Mbps speeds due to the prevalence of the internet. Depending on how many people reside in your home and how you all use the internet, this advice may be materially altered. To learn more about how faster internet speed you require, continue reading.

How Fast Internet Do I Really Need?

You’ll notice that an internet service provider will have a variety of options at various price points when you try to purchase a new internet plan. The speed of the plans is the primary factor influencing the price difference. In general, faster internet is more reliable internet. But do you really need the high-speed internet if you’re paying more dollar?

It’s a good idea to consider how you use the internet and the speeds required to support that usage in order to get the most out of your connection. The minimum recommended speeds for common internet tasks are shown in the following table.

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How Much Internet Speed Can Be Considered Fast?

Whatever your needs, a fast internet connection is unquestionably a better option. A high-speed internet connection will enable you to take care of that fairly quickly, even if you only need an internet connection for basic applications. A faster internet connection boosts productivity in a professional setting. However, depending on where you live, what you might consider “fast internet” might be different.

As it is ideal for both light and heavy usage, a 100 Mbps internet connection speed can be regarded as “fast” internet speed in general. You can easily set up 5 to 6 devices in your home with a 100 Mbps connection, and all of the devices can use the network for basic applications. Apart from that, it’s simple to stream content up to 4K Ultra-HD resolution on a few devices without experiencing noticeable lagging, especially on well-known streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, etc.

According to a recent survey from 2021, the nation’s average internet speed is around 99.3 Mbps. It further demonstrates the fact that the majority of users are operating at a 100 Mbps bandwidth level, which appears adequate for their needs. The upload speed is a crucial factor in this. You will get an upload or download speed of at least 40 Mbps, if not more, with a 100 Mbps connection. As a result, uploading your files to cloud storage won’t take very long.

You can always upgrade your connection if your usage still calls for more bandwidth. A 100+ Mbps connection does not appear to be particularly affordable in terms of connectivity costs or monthly costs, though. Faster than 100 Mbps bandwidth may result in fairly expensive monthly fees and overall higher running costs, making it a bit excessive for domestic uses unless you are using the internet service for commercial applications.

Internet speeds for working from home

You can see that depending on your internet speed, working from home is one of the most demanding things you can do and you should desire good download and upload speed. These demands come from multitasking activities like participating in a large Zoom meeting or downloading important files at the recommended minimum speed of 10Mbps (recommended minimum speed of 1–3Mbps).

You could potentially perform a lot of work-related tasks online at once, which would quickly increase your bandwidth requirement. Think about how important what you are doing is as well. It makes sense to leave some wiggle room in the bandwidth allotment because the last thing you want is for slow internet to hinder your productivity. However, we advise aiming for at least 50-100Mbps rather than the minimum 25Mbps recommended. The speed increase will please you, and the price differences are typically insignificant. You may like to read Google tips while working from home.

Watching streaming video

One of the most popular online activities is now watching television shows, movies, and other content on streaming websites like Netflix and Hulu.

Given the popularity of 4K video streaming, many people believe it’s critical to understand how quickly their internet connection must be for trouble-free video viewing. For just one task, smooth and clear 4K video requires a sizable amount of bandwidth. To watch online 4K video, you’ll need an internet connection with a minimum download speed of 25 Mbps.

Once more, we believe it would be wise to investigate internet speeds of at least 50 to 100 Mbps to accommodate all of your streaming requirements. This is especially true if you plan to multitask by watching your favorite TV show while in a Zoom all-hands meeting on mute or by engaging in other non-destructive activities.

Now, your needs for download speeds drop quickly if you don’t care about 4K quality video. For watching HD video, you only need about 5Mbps, and for standard video, 3Mbps.

Are you wondering which internet service provider pairs best with Netflix? See our guide on the service that streams Netflix the quickest.

Listening to music

Most of the time, slow internet is sufficient for online music listening. Usually, you’ll be fine with speeds of about.5 Mbps (500Kbps). Although lossless audio requires a larger file size than a song with standard quality digital audio, it is possible to listen to it on some music apps. You’ll need internet speeds of between 7 and 20 Mbps for lossless audio.

If all you do online is listen to music, you probably don’t need to go faster than the minimum speeds advised. However, since it’s common to listen to music while completing other tasks, we’d suggest a minimum bandwidth of 25Mbps.

Online gaming

The fact that online gaming doesn’t consume a lot of bandwidth may surprise you. If they are not multitasking, gamers could get by with 4Mbps. Gamers are more concerned with latency than the average user is when it comes to online gaming speeds.

Your internet’s latency is a gauge of its responsiveness. It is the period of time between making a data request and receiving the requested data. In video games, it’s the interval between performing an action—for example, pressing a key to attack an adversary—and the game actually performing that action. The duration of this process is milliseconds. You can play online games more competitively the lower your latency time is.

Since it takes a long time for a signal to travel to space and back, satellite internet hasn’t yet become a practical option for gaming because poor latency can ruin your experience. The better the latency, regardless of whether it is a hard rule or not, the faster the bandwidth. This isn’t always the case, and the two things aren’t always related. In contrast to other internet types like cable and fiber, satellite internet speeds, for instance, can be extremely fast but still have poor latency.

The bare minimum, however, is probably insufficient for the majority of gamers in terms of internet speeds. For the best gaming experience, they should aim for an internet speed of at least 25 Mbps for single-player households and higher for those with multiple players.

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General web browsing

Normal browsing and emailing don’t require extremely fast internet, but because people frequently browse while other activities consume bandwidth, we’d recommend at least 25Mbps.

But we’re also going to add another, perhaps unexpected, complication to our suggestions. That is, if you only use the internet for basic web browsing, a cell phone plan with unlimited data would be a better option for you. You should have more than enough data and bandwidth to support your internet usage from this. Although it isn’t the conventional method, it works well and can help you save money.

Social media

Social media scrolling requires a little bit more speed than regular browsing. Consider all the videos that your pals share on Facebook and Instagram. All there is on TikTok are brief videos. To browse social media, you need at least 3Mbps of bandwidth. We still believe you’re better off with at least 25Mbps to allow for multitasking and connecting other devices.

Recommended home internet speed calculation

To figure out the bare minimum speeds you need for home internet, look at the data above and do some math. But you might not be good at math. We get it! You could use the FCC’s recommended home internet speed as a guide, but we believe they are a little too general. For instance, we believe that the recommendation that “advanced service”-requiring homes have internet speeds of 25 Mbps or higher may start off a little too low.

Even 25Mbps will suffice for some households, but it’s hard to find internet plans with speeds lower than that. Additionally, the cost of those plans is nearly identical to that of 25 Mbps internet. However, you want your internet to be faster as more people enter your home or as more devices connect at once.

We believe that 50-100Mbps speeds are preferable for a starter plan because even many single-person homes have multiple devices connected at once. While a home with four heavy users (each using multiple devices) should take into account about 400Mbps, a home with three simultaneous users should look at 100Mbps to 200Mbps speeds.

What about gigabit internet?

More than ever, the marketing departments of the major ISPs are promoting gigabit (1Gbps or 1,000Mbps) home internet. Gigabit internet is far more than the typical household requires, as you have seen here. With residential gigabit internet, the majority of homes are probably paying too much for bandwidth they don’t even use. Unless you have a multi-family home with six or more heavy internet users, we advise avoiding gigabit internet.

Mbps and Gbps Explained

What the heck is a Mbps, anyway? You will see internet speeds advertised as Mbps, or “megabits per second,” when looking for an internet plan. You could think of it as the equivalent of miles per hour on the internet. Just 1,000 megabits make up a gigabit (Gb). 1Gbps is therefore faster than 999Mbps. That’s all there is to know about this subject for the majority of us.

However, what exactly is a bit and why is it so enormous? The smallest unit of data or computer information is a bit. 1,000 bits make up a megabit. It’s simpler to refer to them as megabits because we transfer so many bits at once when using the internet. Therefore, when you see internet speeds of 40 Mbps, it means that 40,000 bits of data can be transferred per second.

You might also be familiar with “bytes,” which provide information about the sizes of the files on your computer. These are distinct measurements and are denoted by an acronym in all capital letters, such as MB, GB, or TB. Bits and bytes can be distinguished from one another most simply by picturing bits as being moved and bytes as being stored.

Upload Speeds

The focus of internet service provider discussions about internet speeds is almost always on download speeds. When we download something, we receive data quickly. But we also send data out, or “upload,” in addition to receiving it.

Upload speeds are not a major concern for the majority of people, and ISPs do not promote them. The upload speeds offered by the typical user’s internet plan are adequate. Even though live streamers, like those who use Twitch, require faster upload speeds than the average user, they rarely require more than 6Mbps.

Many ISPs reserve the majority of their bandwidth for downloading because uploading doesn’t need to be as quick as downloading. Unless you have fiber internet, your internet speeds are probably much faster for downloading than for uploading (more on that later).

Types of Internet Connections and Speed

Fiber internet

The prevailing technology for residential internet is fiber. It is renowned for its dependability and quick speeds. It is the fastest type of internet available for your home, with peak speeds of 2Gbps. Additionally, it is the only form of internet that offers symmetrical speeds, which means that download and upload rates are roughly equal (though it often still skews a little more towards download, but not as dramatically as other types of internet). For the majority of homes, the 1GB and 2GB fiber internet speeds are excessive. Fiber providers, however, charge much less for plans with slower speeds.

Cable internet

With top speeds of 500Mbps, cable internet is another excellent choice for residential users. It is more widely available than fiber, which needs a separate infrastructure, because it is based on the same infrastructure as cable TV. However, cable internet speeds can occasionally be unreliable, and you might occasionally find yourself competing for bandwidth with neighbors.

DSL internet

Broadband internet is delivered using DSL-(Digital Subscriber Line)over phone lines. With speeds up to 400Mbps, it can compete with cable. However, DSL has reliability issues, particularly for people who live further from their ISP’s hub. The speeds decrease as the distance increases.

Satellite internet

The least desirable option for broadband home internet has typically been satellite internet. The slowest connection, expensive, and with strict data usage restrictions. This is altering, though, as 100Mbps speeds are now available from providers like Viasat. With speeds up to 500Mbps and reduced latency, Starlink is aiming to make a wider and more significant change.

How Much Internet Speed is Good?

Depending on your usage and needs, the answer to this question may change. Additionally, depending on installation costs, connectivity costs, monthly costs, and other factors, a good internet speed rating can vary for different regions. Because it enables you to complete everything more quickly, an internet speed of 30 Mbps or higher can generally be regarded as good. With a 30 Mbps internet connection and a moderate streaming quality, you can use services like YouTube, Twitch, and Netflix in addition to casual usage.

However, if the connection speed is consistent and does not occasionally cause connectivity issues, some people may even consider a connection speed of less than 30 Mbps to be good. The upload speed of this spectrum is another feature. While a download speed of 30 Mbps is excellent, an upload speed of the same magnitude is probably not required.

Make sure the upload speed is at least 5 Mbps, if not more, if your internet service provider does not offer the same bandwidth for upload. With that, you will be able to quickly upload common content to social media platforms like images, videos, and audio files.

Here is a quick comparison of the available Internet bandwidth and the best uses for each group.

How Much Bandwidth is Required for Common Internet Usage?

For instance, any bandwidth capacity between 20 and 50 Mbps should be more than enough for you if you are getting a wired cable connection solely for reliable internet connectivity. To take advantage of the smart features, you can connect a variety of devices to your network, including laptops, TVs, smartphones, and other smart appliances. Additionally, this bandwidth category is appropriate for daily web browsing as well as sporadic content streaming.

Checking emails, browsing websites, and using social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others are all common internet activities. For that, a few devices should be able to connect at 20 to 50 Mbps. Later on, you’ll spend much less each month because it provides a reliable connection with no data usage cap.

FAQ’s

What is the average internet speed in the US?

Data gathered from our internet speed test indicates that the average internet speed across the country is 42.86 Mbps. Of course, the average fluctuates constantly, so that figure might not accurately describe your internet usage.

What is a good internet speed for gaming and streaming?

Above 20 Mbps is good internet speed for multiplayer or “competitive” gaming. However, if you are in high-speed zone and getting 100 mbps internet speed for gaming, that would be the superior!

What is a good internet speed for Wi-FI?

For Wi-Fi, a connection speed of at least 25 Mbps is recommended. This will guarantee that multiple users on your Wi-Fi network receive enough bandwidth while using multiple devices at once.

A speed of 100 Mbps is even better for larger homes. In general, you should strive for 25 Mbps download speeds for each user of your Wi-Fi. Therefore, 100 Mbps is ideal if you live with three other people.

What is a good home internet speed?

The FCC says that the best ISPs should offer at least 12 megabits per second (Mbps) of download speed for two or more connected devices and moderate to heavy internet use. If you have four or more devices, you should use 25 Mbps.

What is Mbps?

Megabits per second is referred to as Mbps. Internet service providers gauge bandwidth in Mbps. Million bits, or one megabit, each contain one piece of data. For instance, if your internet connection has a speed of 25 Mbps, it can send and receive 25 megabits of data per second. More data can be obtained in a given amount of time the faster your internet connection is.

A megabit (Mb) is not the same as a megabyte (MB) because tech jargon can be strange at times (MB). Eight megabits make up one megabyte. File sizes are typically described in terms of bytes, whereas data transfer rates are usually described in terms of bits.

Conclusion

Purchasing a new internet connection is undoubtedly difficult, particularly when considering the bandwidth available. Make sure the plan you are getting is adequate for your needs and provides dependable daily experience before purchasing a new connection. If you’re unsure, look at the comparison table in our guide to get an idea of what internet speed would be best for your needs.

If you’re still unclear, we advise starting with the most fundamental plan that your ISP offers. Start by closely monitoring the data usage and performance for a month or so to better understand your needs in terms of internet speed. This will save you money in the beginning and give you the flexibility to upgrade your current plan whenever necessary.[/vc_column_text]